The Manner of Worship According to the Book of Revelation -- By: Mazie Nakhro
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 158:630 (Apr 2001)
Article: The Manner of Worship According to the Book of Revelation
Author: Mazie Nakhro
BSac 158:630 (Apr 01) p. 165
The Manner of Worship According to the Book of Revelation
[Mazie Nakhro is national director of Care Facilitators International, Pune, India.]
In the Book of Revelation worship is a frequent theme. God is worshiped primarily for who He is (e.g., Rev. 4:8; 5:12–13),1 but He is also worshiped for five other specific reasons. The reasons the twenty-four elders, angels, and saints in heaven worship God convey why believers today should worship Him. Having these in one’s mind and heart makes worship more meaningful and spiritually significant. In addition Revelation reveals the manner or mode of worship.
The Reasons for Worship
Worship for God’s Creative Works
The twenty-four elders in heaven ascribe “worthship” to God because He created everything there is (Rev. 4:11). The causal conjunction ὅτι points to the reason why God is worthy “to receive glory and honor and power.” He is “worthy of receiving the ascription of praise and power because of his finished creative work.”2 Creation was carried out by Him, but also all things were created and have their being according to His will (4:11; cf. 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16). As Mounce observes, the unusual Greek construction διὰ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν (“because of Thy will they existed, and were created”) suggests that all things first potentially existed in the eternal will of God and then came into actual being at His appointed time.3 Or the two verbs (ἦσαν and ἐκτίσθησαν) could be
BSac 158:630 (Apr 01) p. 166
synonymous, emphasizing the fact that God created “all things.” Because God is the Creator of all things, He has the right to expect worship from them (Rev. 14:7; cf. Acts 4:24; 14:15–17). So the appropriate response of every creature is to worship its Creator and Sustainer (Ps. 136:1–9; Rom. 1:20–21).
Worship for Christ’s Redem...
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